 Barked: Sat Feb 9, '13 4:05pm PST |
 | |  | | Pup has SA....I rated 3 on the scale of 10. I had an opportunity to watch a cam for several hours. She was a little uncomfortable to watch, too stressed to do much of anything, but comfortable about the crate, down most of the time, and no extreme behavior. Just more "I will hold my (emotional) breath" until mom comes home. The greeting was good, not pent up.
A big problem here IMO is the unsupportive rescue, who allowed OP to feel alone and panic. I think if support had been there from the first and she had had a little coaching, things wouldn't seem as pressured as they do.
To the OP, if Josie actually managed to sleep, then that is *superb* progress from where I saw her, and that, on your report, was solid improvement from where she was originally. No reason to think she will not head forward, particularly with tweaks here or there as to things that can work.
In terms of reading books, that's ok, but that is only going to panic you. SA is *extremely* difficult to "cure." Conditioning and management strategies can make for great improvements, but in terms of behaviors this one is a loo loo given that the behavior occurs when you are absent. Far easier, IMO and experience, to deal with aggressive or fear responses than SA, if only because you can address the behavior presently. Some dogs aren't particularly cureable from SA. The GSD I had in as a foster wasn't. There was nothing to work on....she was an angel as long as you were there. She was a master and breaking out of crates. No crate could hold her. She was very athletic and gating her wasn't going to work, either. No problem being with either containment when you were there. It was impossible, but I found a perfect home...a retiree 
At any rate, you are looking at a moderate case, and that is *not* what a lot of these texts are addressing. And more to the point, she continues to progress with decisive steps, not the itty bitty almost imperceptible little ones. All good. Odds are she is a 1 or 2 on the scale, and the rest is about adjustment periods in terms of what you are seeing.
As for your big concern, regression, what you need to do is foundational stuff. Don't have a routine. Now this opposite to what I normally advise when it comes to settling a dog in, and maybe you start a little later with this protocol for that reason, but if your schedule is irregular, then you need to condition her properly. Don't feed at the same time, or walk, etc., every day. Mix it up. This way, she is more conditioned to accepting variations in routine and not being insecure. Figure out WHERE in your schedule you are close to guaranteed normalcy, and try to focus there. My dogs I vary routine with save for nighttime ritual, in example. Dogs need to be able to predict things in their environment, but when you move away from being too regimented, that makes them more adaptable and less prone to neurosis. |  |  | |  |
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So it wasn't that the crate bothered her, but that she was locked away.
That was a one off and he's never been that distressed before or after and he does seem to have improved a bit over the years on his own accord.
